Falling In

 This past weekend was rather eventful.

I saw Wife and Daughter briefly on Saturday- for around 30 minutes.  Daughter, now 15, had plans with friends about which I was not briefed.  Ok, stuff happens... so after a two and a half hour drive, now what?  I could visit friends (if they returned texts inquiring about that).  I could go to Sly Fox to try their Shepherd's Pie that their chef (a friend) was bragging about (which I did- and it was amazing!).  

There was also a miniature wargaming convention out in Lancaster, PA called Fall In. Back when I worked at Games Workshop, I always went to this.  The sponsor HMGS holds three conventions a year: Cold Wars, Historicon, and Fall In.  Usually they were held in Lancaster or Gettysburg, and most of the GW people who gamed (most of us did) went to play and see friends.  

I hadn't attended one of these since I transitioned, as the miniature wargaming hobby is primarily male and overwhelmingly conservative.  However, several of my old GW friends were now working at Gale Force Nine games, and they were going.  I decided to visit.  

One of the attractions of the convention is seeing the amazing gaming tables some people build.  While some people are, ahem, rather lame in their presentation, others go all-out and their tables are amazing. 

The dealer's area was in a separate building, which I made my way towards, and bumped into a facialbook friend from the Philly area.  We chatted briefly.  Eventually, I found the GF9 booth, and there were three of my old co-workers.  One of them (I'll call him 1) had seen Sophie previously, but not the other two.  I hired one of the other guys (2) for GW all those years ago.  The third (3) was at GW before me, and has transgender son.  All three greeted me warmly, and we caught up.  I learned that one of my favorite people from GW is now involved behind the camera in the adult entertainment industry, which, if you know him, you'd say "yeah, that tracks."  

I then walked around the dealer's area, where I saw many items that, back when I still played, I would've been very interested in buying.  I used to spend a LOT of money I didn't have at these shows, and in the end, ended up selling off all those things to cover bills.  And so, while enjoying the displays, I didn't buy (except one bottle of paint.)

Then I ran into a familiar face, whom I'll call 4.  Back when I worked for Chessex in the early 90s, he owned a game company in the space upstairs in the warehouse, where he made high end wargames.  He had a booth, and I stopped to chat.  He hadn't heard that I'd transitioned, so he was quite surprised.  We chatted for a bit.

After that, I said my goodbyes to the GF9 guys, and drove back to State College, listening to Penn State football crush Indiana on the radio.  

That night, I watched as the Phillies played hard, but lost the World Series in game six.  No one expected the Phils to make the playoffs, never mind go all the way to the World Series, so it was a magical ride.  Still, it was a disappointment.  

The week has drifted by in a haze of insomnia and unease.  The elections weren't the triumph for fascism that the GQP wanted, but enough election-deniers were elected (but they don't trust elections?) to make 2024 a GQP coup.  The worst of the anti-lgbt trolls were easily re-elected and are now seen as presidential timber.  

So, now it's raining outside as the remnants of a hurricane pass directly over us.  A soggy day, to be sure, so, to cheer myself up, I decided to trowel on some makeup before doing errands.

Sometimes it's the little things that keep me going.

Be well.